Clear and hassle-free advice for GPs

Doctors

Clear and hassle-free advice for GPs

Shipleys have been using their specialist knowledge in the healthcare sector for over 10 years. We act for GPs practices of all sizes from small single handed practices to larger partnerships and corporates, as well as Pharmacy linked GP practices, health clinics and consultants.

The health industry has seen a surge in growth in recent years, achieved against a back drop of challenges from fundamental reforms to the NHS. GPs need to be proactive with their business model and look to provide more of the advanced and enhanced services on top of essential services to maintain incomes and profitability.

GPs Principals and Practices

At Shipleys Tax we understand the specific needs of general practices and the partners involved. Fundamental reforms to the NHS mean GP practices need to continuously re-position themselves under the new system and be able to devote maximum time to administration of patient care. This is where our team can help by providing specialist knowledge on streamlining accounting and tax matters leaving GPs to concentrate on patient care.

Why do you need a specialist GP accountant?

• Knowledge of NHS general practice and the expert advice we provide can be instrumental
• Understanding how practices are funded (from global sum to QOFs ).
• Be familiar with the GP contract reforms, GMS statement of financial entitlements, PMS contracts and the NHS pension scheme.
• Be up to speed on practice based commissioning (PBC), APMS contracts and the developing primary care market.
• Deal competently and promptly with all taxation matters and with GPs’ superannuation.

Why us?

We aim to do more than produce the annual accounts and handle the partners’ tax affairs.

Personal service – you will deal with one particular partner and their same support team and not be passed around

Timely – the annual accounts will be prepared to agreed time scales and we will visit the practice to discuss

Prompt – we will deal promptly with routine queries, telephone calls and emails and advise on bookkeeping, cash flow and monitoring partners’ drawings without making additional charges.

We have nationwide coverage and act for GP Locums, Registrars and Consultants clients based throughout the UK.

Why us?

• Save you money – proactive services ensuring you are aware of tax savings
• Knowledge you can rely on – we have a wealth of tax expertise in the healthcare sector
• Planning – ensuring you are aware of tax liabilities and payment dates enabling you to plan your cashflow
• Peace of mind – we have many years of experience in dealing with the tax affairs of medical and hospital consultants
• Help you minimising risk of HMRC enquiry

Our fees start at £295 + VAT

Tax Planning for Doctors

Tax law never stands still and goal posts are always moving. It is crucial that you have the right adviser to guide you through the maze and help reduce your tax bill through legitimate and transparent means.

Shipleys Tax has a number of specialist tax advisers with wealth of experience in the medical sector who can talk to you about the many tax saving opportunities.

We always say the best tax planning is done before a major event in the business so seek advice early on in the lifecycle of a transaction. Some areas to consider:

Received an automated message from HMRC saying you are under investigation? Do NOT reply – this is scam. Read on…

We are getting some reports of an HMRC telephone scam. This is not a new scam but seems to be rearing its ugly head again so beware: Scam: a recorded message is left, allegedly from HMRC, that starts: “This is Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs. We have been trying to reach you to let you know that we are filing a law suit against you/you have a tax refund due.” The recipient is then asked to phone 0XXXX XXXXXXX and press “1” to speak to the officer dealing with the case. Do not to reply to this message as they will then try to extract money from you.

Tip 1 If the caller can’t verify their identity, you should never disclose any personal details.

Tip 2 If you receive either of these scam calls, report it on the Action Fraud website or you can call 0300 123 2040.

As good accountants know, buying a car through a company is usually not the most tax efficient.

This is because the company car tax regime taxes both the employee and the employer company on the provision of a company car and the way car tax is calculated. The amount of tax payable is based on the ‘car benefit’ assumed to have been provided, this is calculated by reference to the List Price multiplied by a % based on the CO2 emissions of the car. But as the value of the car depreciates, the car tax benefit remains the same as the calculation is based on the List Price not “market value”, hence the tax payable remains constant and not representative of actual value.

New car benefit rates

However, things are set to get better for the long suffering company motorist. From April 2020, there will be a sharp reduction in the car benefit rates for ‘Ultra Low Emissions Vehicles (ULEV) i.e. electric company cars with CO2 emissions of less than 75g/km. This taxable car benefit rate will reduce from 9% (2018) to 2% in April 2020.

Example:

Jaguar I-Pace EV400; List price £63,440; CO2 emissions 0g/km.

Taxable benefit:

13% (2018-19)

16% (2019-20)

2% (2020-21)

Based on the above the car tax benefit charge will drop from £8,247 to £1269, a massive £6,978 saving!

So what now…

Well given that the new ULEV company car tax regime is set to become much more tax efficient from April 2020, you may want to consider deferring any new car purchase until April 2020, or at least choose a ULEV car which will then benefit from the much reduced car benefit rates applying from April 2020.

If you have any queries about this or any other tax planning, please contact us on 0114 275 62 92 or email info@shipleystax.com.

The advice above is a general guide only and does not constitute advice. You must seek professional advice before taking any action.

Businesses in the UK now have less than nine months to prepare for wide-ranging new rules requiring them to manage their accounts and submit tax returns digitally.

The government’s long-anticipated and controversial Making Tax Digital regime, hailed as the biggest tax and accounts shake-up in a generation, finally comes into effect in April 2019.

Experts in the accountancy world have warned the changes could catch many businesses off-guard. Shipleys Tax have urged business owners to begin researching and investing in digital reporting software that’s compliant with the new rules.

What is Making Tax Digital (MTD)?

Making Tax Digital for VAT is being brought in by the government as an attempt to streamline and simplify the tax reporting system. Making Tax Digital for business (MTDfb) begins on 1 April 2019 with MTD for VAT. From that date, VAT-registered businesses above the threshold of £85k (currently) will have to keep digital records and submit VAT returns using compatible software.

There will be specific rules for how business will report digitally and the software used to do this has to comply with HMRC’s guidance. Gone are paper records and spreadsheets (to a certain extent), in its place will be digital books and records stored online in the cloud.

This may come as a culture shock for many small businesses who are used to doing it the traditional way.

Businesses that exceed or expect to exceed the VAT registration threshold will need to consider:

· are they exempt from the requirement to file returns electronically under MTD (charities, local authorities, government departments and overseas businesses will not be exempt from MTD for VAT)?

· what records will need to be kept digitally

· what the digital VAT account should look like

· how to submit their digital VAT return in line with MTD requirements

· whether to submit their digital VAT account to HMRC

· penalties for late filing and payment of VAT, and for not keeping digital records or having digital links.

It is also worth noting that the government has plans to roll out MTD requirements for all other taxes in 2020.

What are the key dates to look out for?

· April 2018 – HMRC opened pilot for businesses to volunteer to submit their VAT returns

What can you do now to get ready for MTD?

Reports suggest some businesses have not heard about MTD. There is less than 12 months to go until MTD is implemented, many are still uncertain about the requirements and how specifically these requirements will apply to their business.

HMRC is still publishing further guidance on specific definitions and how MTD will work in practice. However, what businesses can do now is to review existing VAT accounting systems and processes in relation to the preparation of VAT returns.

Our recommended steps

To ensure that your business is ready for MTD, we would recommend the following steps:

1. Review your internal reporting systems, processes and controls. Liaise with your advisers/software providers and internal IT teams to get a view on what they can do to help to get ready for MTD.

3. Test the integrity of your data and consider whether your VAT-related data is accurate, current and complete.

4. Consider what information you wish to submit to HMRC and how the API connection will work. Do you need to develop or acquire additional software? Is it easier to outsource the submission of VAT returns to a third party?

Accounts and IT system changes may take 9 to 12 months to review and implement. HMRC advise that failure to meet the necessary MTD requirements could result in penalties although there will be a 12 month grace period (‘soft landing’) after MTD goes live to enable businesses to ensure that they have the necessary processes in place and digital links. It is important therefore that all affected businesses start reviewing their systems, processes and VAT adjustments now.

If you have any queries regarding the above, please contatct us on 0114 275 6292